An Assessment of Community College Staff Development Needs in the Northeastern United States.

Hammons, James O.; Wallace, Terry H. Smith

This monograph reports the results of a study conducted to make a comprehensive assessment of the inservice training needs of public and private two-year colleges in the northeastern United States and Ohio. A questionnaire was sent to the chief executive officer of 294 two-year colleges to gather information on degree of need for specific areas of staff development and to elicit respondent opinion on the most desirable sites, times, modes of presentation, and costs of such programs. Of the 207 returns received (70%), only 21 (7%) were unusable. The chi-square test was utilized in the data analysis to determine significant differences on dimensions of type of control and size. Results indicated that the colleges surveyed had definite staff development needs in three areas: needs related to the unique role of community colleges, needs related to instruction, and needs of administrative staff. Specific needs in these areas are listed and discussed as are findings and conclusions regarding the logistics of staff development programs. Data resulting from the study are presented in extensive tables and figures, and the survey instrument is appended. (JDS)